My family’s farm, Fernwood Springs, in Westampton, New Jersey, has a lovely little apple orchard. The trees go mostly untended now because it’s just my grandma and my uncle working the farm (and my grandma is 87!), but the Red Delicious apples are still…well…delicious, even without much tending. I picked a boatload the other day [...]

I’m not afraid to go out on a limb and say that shishito peppers are the most delicious peppers ever in the history of peppers. They are so good I had to cook them up two different ways. The first: a classic method for cooking shishito peppers – toss them in a bit of oil, [...]

It took me a while to catch on to the beauty and deliciousness of fresh shelling beans. I think I had always been unsure of the best way to cook them, my primary bean experiences having been with the dried and canned varieties. Then I found fresh cranberry beans at my local farmer’s market. I [...]

Asparagus and egg-y sauces (think hollandaise) are a natural. In this recipe, I’ve paired roasted asparagus with a lemony ramp aioli. Ramps are wild leeks, and have gotten insanely popular in the last few years among chefs and eaters alike, probably due to their sheer deliciousness. They are a traditional food in the Appalachian mountains [...]

This is a riff off of David Chang’s corn with bacon and miso butter recipe from Gourmet, which happens to be one of the best corn recipes ever. Sadly, corn isn’t in season yet. So, as a way around the lack of springtime corn, I found these amazing little corn shoots at the farmer’s market [...]

This is sort of a quick, warm sauerkraut but with pork. And chilies. The vinegar adds a bit of tang, the pork a bit of salt and savory, the chilies a bit of heat. I recommend using a Japanese mandoline/slicer, or a regular mandoline, to slice the cabbage and the shallot or onion. You could [...]

I grew up mostly in the Southern U.S. (courtesy of the U.S. Army), while my husband is basically 100% Italian. This dish is inspired by our very different backgrounds: pecans are quintessentially Southern, and broccoli raab is a classic Italian vegetable. Broccoli raab (a.k.a., broccoli “rabe”) is a bitter green vegetable in season starting in [...]

I actually timed how long it took me to prep to make applesauce – less than 10 minutes total. That includes peeling, coring, and chopping 5 apples. What’s my point? It really doesn’t take that long to make stuff from scratch. OK – I know there is a little bit of cooking involved, but once [...]

Time to use up all that quince jam I made! (Um, I made a lot.) This simple, rustic little crostini is perfect with drinks (I’m thinking Amontillado sherry). I actually had a few of them for lunch today. If you can’t find manchego, a nice farmhouse cheddar would be good, or even ricotta. Ingredients: 1/2 [...]

I know what you’re thinking: yuck! raw kale! But I’m here to tell you that this might be the most delicious salad of all time. Out of all of the recipes I make, this one is the most requested. And kale is in season right now, which makes it even better. I use lacinato kale [...]

I think that the world is divided into two types of people: those who prefer lumps in their mashed potatoes, and those that don’t. I fall into the later category. I like my mashed potatoes to be lump-free, skins off, not “smashed” potatoes, but “mashed” potatoes. And I’m going to share with you my trick [...]

You may have seen Romanesco cauliflower in your local market – it looks almost like vibrant, bright green coral. I like to roast cauliflower because it brings out a really delicious nutty-sweet flavor in them. And the little cauliflower florets get nice and brown and a bit crunchy. A little squeeze of lemon does the [...]

I think you can eat this cranberry sauce year ’round, not just on Thanksgiving. It’s nice on turkey sandwiches or on biscuits. The star anise adds a little something special, but if you can’t find it, you could use a bit of cinnamon, or maybe a few anise seeds tied together in cheesecloth. If you [...]

Swiss chard is so good – and happily it is in season right now! So go down to your local farmer’s market and pick up a couple of bunches. Please? I like the rainbow variety the best, but that’s just because I think rainbows are pretty. You can use red swiss chard or white swiss [...]